A life of knitting, DIY projects and the food that fuels it all

Category Archives: I Love Knitting

This week’s Not Your Grandma’s Knits started out in the usual way, with some pretty pictures that caught my eye. But the more I read about Wool and the Gang, the more intrigued I became. Turns out they’re not your everyday knitwear brand. Instead of factory production, each of their ready-to-wear items is handmade by a member of “The Gang”, their global network of individual knitters. They also sell kits, which contain everything you need (yarn, knitting needles, pattern and finishing tools) to knit your own item at home.

More inspiring modern knits, this time by Johan Ku, a designer born in Taipei who started as a graphic designer and is now known for his sculptural, extreme chunky knits. The first photo is from his “Wearable Art” runway collection and is more conceptual than wearable, but the two cowls and mitts from his accessories collection are SO up my alley.

A college friend of mine had a baby recently and upon seeing the facebook announcement my thoughts went something like: “Oh how exciting, he’s so cute! What can I knit for him? Wait, what’s his name? Oh, they chose a good one. …Baby booties would be adorable, but who actually uses those? I hope he’s healthy… Oh, maybe a teensy hat!”

Clearly my priorities are a bit muddled but they did result in the cutest thing on this blog yet… or maybe ever in its future existence. The hat itself is a breeze to knit and works up quickly using bulky yarn. The hardest thing is stitching the ears on so they stand out symmetrically and don’t flop too much.

Since I didn’t have a readily available newborn baby, I modeled the hat on a ball of yarn which I approximate to be the size of a baby’s head. That ball of yarn gets cuter the longer I stare at that picture. The pattern is available for free after the jump!

Second in this series, Anna Dudzinska a fashion designer based in Poland. Her stuff is just astonishing and really shows how far knitting can be pushed. I recognize the basic stitches and techniques but, man, the ability to put them together like this is envy-inducing.

Now don’t get me wrong, my grandma taught me how to knit when I was nine and she was awesome. I just wanted to use this series to explore modern knits with a little more edge, to challenge the notion that all hand-knit things look like this:

And, holy cow, I’m starting off with a doozy: Swedish fashion designer Sandra Backlund who uses knits in the most astonishing and sculptural ways. Wearable for the average human being? Maybe not. But breathtakingly inspiring? Hell yes.